Fruit Machine Myths

Everyone’s got a system haven’t they? There’s always that fruit machine that pays out. You hear this all the time in pubs up and down the country. But these are just fruit machine myths. Here at TVC, we know our fruit machines inside out, so we’re here to bust some fruit machine myths!

Fruit machines are programmed to have ‘hot streaks’ and ‘cold streaks’

Fruit machines are programmed so that each individual spin is random. So while theoretically they can randomly trigger multiple times, fruit machines cannot be programmed to win or lose a set number of times in a row.

Fruit machines that haven’t paid out for a while are due to pay out soon

Fruit machines don’t pay out when they get full. Their capacity for coins is greater than the jackpot. The times a fruit machine will pay out are random.

A machine that has just paid out a jackpot won’t pay out again for a while

The random number generator that determines the spins does not take into account previous wins. So the odds of it paying out twice in a row do not change.

You’re more likely to win if you warm your coins up first

Temperature doesn’t affect your odds either…

You have a ‘lucky’ machine… or an unlucky one

As humans, we are naturally programmed to look for patterns. The idea of lucky or unlucky fruit machines is the result of a cognitive bias – a belief that you’re experiencing a pattern that isn’t there.

Someone hit a jackpot on a machine you just left. That would be your jackpot if you had kept playing

Wins are randomly generated, not sequential. So it’s just bad luck. Your win was not “just two spins away”.

The more coins you put in, the better the chance you’ll win

Fruit machines are not designed to have a “pay to win” model. This is what keeps them fair.

The longer you play, the better your chances of winning

They say you have to be in it to win it. So playing a fruit machine gives you a 100% greater chance of winning than not playing one. But playing for a long time will not sway the odds of a pay out in your favour.

There’s a system to beating a fruit machine

Remember what we said about cognitive bias? This is that again. Anyone who claims to have a system is either trying to deceive you or, more likely, is deluded by their own cognitive bias.